25^2 



Phyjical and Mifcellaneous 



Th 



baara , or 



Houbaaiy 



Upon the Wings and Tail^, there are feveral Spots or Rings of 

 a deep Blew. It makes a fquahng Noife , and builds in the 

 Banks of the SheUiff, Booherak, and other Rivers. 

 Hou- The Houbaara [or Houbaary Li>-=-] is of the Bignefs of a 

 Capon, but of a longer Habit of Body. It feeds upon little 

 Shrubs and Infedls, like the Graab el Sahara, frequenting in 

 like Manner the Confines of the Defert. The Body is of a 

 light dun or yellowilh Colour , marked all over with little 

 brown Taches ; whilft the larger Feathers of the Wing are 

 black, with each of them a white Spot near the Middle. Thofe 

 of the Neck are whitifh with black Streaks ; but are chiefly 

 remarkable for their Length, and for being erected, as in the 

 Ruff and Dung -hill Cock, when It is attacked or pro- 

 voked. The Bill is flat, like the Starlings, nearly an Inch 

 and a half long ; and the Legs agree in Shape and in the 

 Want of the hinder Toe with the Buftard's. The Gall and 

 the Contents of the Stomach are in great Efl:eem for fore Eyes, 

 and have been fometimes fold for a great Price. Nothing 

 can be more entertaining than to fee this Bird purfued by the 

 Hawk ; and what a variety of Flights and Stratagems It is ob- 

 liged to make ufe of in Order to efcape. Gol'ms mifinterpret- 

 eth Hoohaary, in caUing It the Buftard ; which anfwereth in- 

 deed in Colour, in the Habit of Body and in the Number of 

 Toes, but differeth , in being twice as big as the Bird I am 

 defcribing. 

 The Rhaad, Thc Rhaad or Saf-faf, is a granivorous and gregarious Bird, 

 which wanteth the hinder Toe. There are two Species of It ; 

 the fmaller whereof is of the Size of an ordinary Pullet, but 

 the larger is near as big as the Hoohaara, differing alfo from 

 the lefler in having a black Head, with a Tuft of dark blew 

 Feathers immediately below It. The Belly of them both 

 is white, the Back and the Wings of a buff Colour fpotted with 

 brown, whilfl the Tail is lighter, marked all along with 

 black tranfverfe Streaks. The Beak and the Legs are ftronger 

 than in Birds of the Partridge Kind. Rhaad ', which denoteth 

 Thunder in the Language of this Country, is fuppofed to be 

 aName that hath been given to This Bird, from the Noife It mak- 

 eth in fpringing from the Ground; 2&Saf-Jaf\ theotherName, 



I Sc. a tvc-^ Kahai, tonuit. a <_A;iaA*r, tranjlated PafiTcr only by Golius, is not unlike in 

 Name to the SnW Sachaph erSah-haph, whith Lg\.ii. i6. we render the Ctickovv. 



verv 



